Sudetenland Tales by Edward Drobinski - HTML preview

Sudetenland Tales

Page 371

of $20 million," said HSI New York Acting Special Agent in Charge Erin Keegan. "I commend HSI New York’s El Dorado Task Force and our law enforcement partners for their outstanding coordination in ensuring these vital benefits go to those who truly need them.”

According to the indictment and court filings, SNAP is administered by the USDA’s Food and Nutrition Service and utilizes federal tax dollars to subsidize low income households, affording such households the opportunity to achieve a more nutritious diet by increasing their food purchasing power. Individuals who receive SNAP benefits no longer redeem their benefits using paper food stamp coupons but use what is known as an Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT) card. Using EBT cards, recipients can make authorized purchases, and the total amount of the purchase is electronically deducted from the recipient’s card balance. The same amount of the transaction is electronically transferred to the retailer’s designated bank account, using federal funds that originate from the USDA.

From April 2022 through December 2022, the defendants allegedly conducted fraudulent SNAP transactions out of Throop Farm Market, a bodega located at the corner of Throop and Greene Avenues in Bedford-Stuyvesant. First, the defendants engaged in trafficking SNAP benefits by allowing SNAP recipients to exchange SNAP